In book, Bongino says Obama too harsh in Secret Service scandal

The Baltimore Sun

Dan Bongino

Dan Bongino (The Baltimore Sun)

John FritzeThe Baltimore Sun

A Republican congressional candidate in Maryland and former Secret Service agent is alleging in a new book that White House staff were frequently intoxicated on overseas trips and that agents involved in last year's prostitution scandal in Colombia were treated unfairly by the Obama administration.

"The only bad behavior I ever witnessed at these events was by intoxicated White House staff," Dan Bongino, who is running for office in Maryland's 6th Congressional District, wrote in an upcoming book "Life Inside the Bubble."

Excerpts of the book were obtained by the Washington Examiner, which first reported the claims.

"I felt the president's harsh words were inappropriate," Bongino wrote of President Obama's comments following the Cartagena scandal. "He failed to acknowledge that this was a pattern of behavior that was not uncommon among his own staff members within the White House."

A half dozen agents were dismissed and several more were pushed out.

Bongino quit his job with the Secret Service to run for office last year, winning the GOP nomination for Senate in Maryland but losing by nearly 30 points to incumbent Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin in the general election. He is now running an uphill race against Democratic incumbent Rep. John Delaney, and is an outspoken critic of Democratic policies.

Bongino served on the presidential protection detail and is remembered by many White House aides. His brother, an agent on the Colombian trip, was exonerated in the scandal, according to the Examiner.